


Call Me

by soprana



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Might be just a lump of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 03:48:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17675876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprana/pseuds/soprana
Summary: “To run task manager for your computer, hit the keys: Ctrl, Alt, and Delete.” She reminded, knowing he asked this question nearly once every two weeks.





	Call Me

Painted nails drummed on the worn and chipped wood. Over the years, many others have abused the scarred desk, leaving carvings and stains for others to see. Many hours have been wasted at this lonely desk, solitary students etching graffiti to pass those hours.

She was just another part-time student employee who would move on to the next available job when the next semester arrived.

Lucy Heartfilia, with her simple, french manicured, nails and jewelry adorned wrists, made a point to put her boredom to better use. Her pen scribbled away, but tattooing the notebook paper with words for her novel.

Honestly, she could be working on assignments for her classes but, the blonde had study hours set aside for that. Novel time was her relaxing time.

For four hours, she sat in that darkened room, a lone desk lamp as her only light. Metal cabinets lined the walls, filled with information and important contacts. Before her sat a single phone, the digital display telling her the same extension since her first day on the job.

A job at the circulation desk is what she applied for, not the central operator of the library services. Lucy didn’t complain, however. Work in circulation would involve frequently getting distracted and showing her peers the location of journals and such.

Here, she could solely work on her novel while answering a phone and pressing a button to direct calls. It payed well enough.

Lucy found herself loving her job, loving the opportunity it provided for her to write on her own terms. There were some other perks, but that was the main reason. The junior year student refused to name the other reason she began to love her job.

No way, she wouldn’t admit it.

Finishing a strong sentence that would signal the end of a build up scene, Lucy’s hand trembled with anticipation as the words for the beginning of the climactic peak danced through her mind. Running her tongue over her lips, her heart raced with the secondhand adrenaline her main character would experience through the words she was about to write.

The tarnished, plastic phone rang, snapping her out of her thoughts.

With an annoyed huff, Lucy put down her pen and answered the phone, her polite and chipper tone disguising her fading ideas. “Mavis Vermillion Library, what extension would you like to reach?” Brown eyes squinted at her nails as she spoke, her body shifting to tuck her legs under the swivel chair.

“Hey, Lucy!” A familiar and cheery voice said, not at all concerned when she sighed dramatically into the receiver. The woman pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger, mouthing words she dare not add volume to, lest the man hear it.

“Natsu, this is just a line for redirect calls. It’s not a casual discussion line.” Lucy reminded patiently, resting her arm on the desk and leaning on her elbow.

“I know.” He replied simply, the skip still present in his tone. “But, why have me redirected when you know everything I need?” He sounded so trusting, so set in his ways.

Lucy absolutely adored him for it, not that she would ever admit it.

Playing naive was still the game, though. She tried to scavenge a stern tone that Erza had used once or twice, though it never could have the same pull.

“What is it today, Natsu? Did the pipe leak again?” She tried, recalling his most recent call about his sink pipe leaking all over the bathroom in his apartment.

“Nope! The patch you told me to mix up worked great! Saved me a whole bunch of money!” He laughed lightly.

Lucy’s lips quirked. Of course it worked. She figured out how to make it herself to avoid angering her landlady.

“To run task manager for your computer, hit the keys: Ctrl, Alt, and Delete.” She reminded, knowing he asked this question nearly once every two weeks.

“I wrote that down. Figured you were getting tired of answering the same question.” he replied easily with a chuckle, his deep voice transferred to her ear.

Her body shivered in response, her mind cursing his effect on her. Hell, she never even met the guy and he had her smitten with him. The voice thing he did was yet another thing that dragged her in his little ploy.

“Uh huh, the average amount of sleep you should get is 7-8 hours.” Lucy said, thinking back on that one day he grilled her for proper diet and health answers. That was the day he began to start asking more out of the box questions.

In the beginning, he called with math problems, history essay questions, basic physics formulas, and political science questions. Then he branched to questions about the town and how to find the most popular coffee shops.

Soon, he was losing ground and began asking her answers on existential theories, not that he payed attention to her replies.

This whole routine started on her second week of employment. A wrong number or just coincidence led him to call her that day.

His deep voice had been panicked, rushed and garbled. From what she could make out, his computer crashed and took his paper with it. He didn’t even know what extension reached IT.

The blonde had to calm him down, telling him to breathe and count in his head. His hysterical behavior calmed, and Lucy kindly directed his call to IT after wishing him good luck.

Now, he only called her and refused to give extensions. Lucy, despite job regulations, refused to hang up on him. That would be rude.

“I got it.” He answered happily. “But, that is not my question.”

Lucy groaned and slapped her palm to her forehead. “Then what? I’m supposed to keep this line open as much as I can.” Not that she cared, she just didn’t want to risk getting fired. Porlyusica was strict with efficiency, and her loathing for lazy employees spurred Lucy to keep her head on straight.

“How much fish should a cat eat? Like, my cat won’t really eat anything unless it is fish. I about had it and gave him some cat food, but he’s staring at me like he’s plotting my death. My life is in danger here.”

There was some shuffling, a loud and irritated meow, and Natsu’s exaggerated breathing. “Jeez, he just had a go at me! You gotta help me, Lucy. It’s getting intense.”

Lucy pursed her lips. “I don’t know. I have a dog. I don’t know about cats.” She instantly regretted the words. If she so much as spoke about her own life, Natsu would question about her life, her interests.

“What kind of dog? I bet it’s weird, like you.”

Lucy huffed, fingering the papers of her notebook. “Says the man who keeps calling this number just to ask me questions. Look, if that’s all, just mix fish with his food. Okay?”

The novel was calling her name, the weight of her employment heavy on her back.

“Wait! I have one more question!” He shouted a little too loud.

Lucy cringed, and he muttered an apology. There was a second of silence before he cleared his throat.

“So…mix the fish with the food?” He repeated with slow, deliberate syllables.

“Natsu.” Lucy whined, her head falling back in exasperation. He spluttered.

“W-Well I need to make sure before I hang up!” He defended lamely.

Lucy huffed. “Really? Really now? What is the real reason? I told you the answer so-”

“Go out with me.” He said evenly.

Lucy choked, nearly dropping the phone. The heat of her blush nearly curled her hair.

Was that her heart banging its way out of her chest?

Why was she excited about this?

She wasn’t being aloof like she should be.

“W-What? D-Do you m-mean-?” She blubbered in a squeaky voice, looking to the clock out of habit. He laughed huskily, sounding like he was walking. “You know what I mean. Let’s go get coffee.”

He sounded so sure.

Lucy swallowed, burying her face into her arms. “You won’t take no for an answer, will you?” She mumbled, covering her left cheek with her left palm.

“Why would you say no? We are like best friends, Lucy!” Natsu reasoned, wind echoing in the receiver.

The blonde rolled her eyes. The only reason they were that close was because of his questions to her and his rambles about his day. She knew nearly everything about him except what his face looked like.

“Fine. I get off at three.” She stated, checking the clock.

Thirty minutes left of her shift.

On the other end, Natsu cheered in victory, his voice far off as if he pulled the phone away. “Awesome! I’ll see you then?” He sounded hopeful, elated in this small step.

Smiling to herself, Lucy agreed softly. “Yeah. See you soon, Natsu.”

She hung up, like every other time they had spoken. Instead, this time she was warm inside, heart racing with her imagination.

What did he look like?

Would he be the same as he was over the phone?

She had only twenty-five minutes of waiting.

For the first time in a long time, the minutes ticked by slowly. Lucy found herself eager to leave the office and finally meet the mysterious Natsu. How should she act?

How will he act?

Will there be awkward pauses?

Suspense was her enemy.

Finally, the clock chimed three, and Lucy closed her novel notebook, not a word entered after the call with Natsu ended. Pulling her coat over her shoulders and picking up her backpack, she smiled when the next student worker entered. “It’s all yours, Levy!”

The woman counted her steps to the library exit, schooling her pace to a casual walk. Stay calm, Lucy. Don’t act weird. Be natural. Be yourself.

The moment she opened the library door, she saw him. He stood by the benches that lined the entrance hall, hands in his pockets. His incredibly pink hair was the most vibrant color in the entire room.

His eyes, however, when he turned and saw her, were polished onyx. Those eyes widened when he saw her, a minuscule swallow of his throat the only other reaction he gave before a wide and toothy smile greeted her.

“Natsu?” She asked, returning the smile as she stopped before him. He reached to scratch the back of his head.

“Hey Lucy. You ready?” His voice was definitely as intoxicating as it was over the phone. Lucy fought the blush, settling for a laugh and a nod.

“Yeah. Let’s go to that coffee shop you asked me about. I wanted to try the new menu.”

To her surprise, he smirked, pulling out the new menu from his pockets.

“Figured you’d say that.”


End file.
